Gary James' Interview With Steve Rothery Of
Marillion



They've sold over fifteen million albums. They've charted eight Top Ten UK albums, including a number one album, "Misplaced Childhood". They charted eleven Top 40 hits on the UK singles chart. They received the Band Of The Year award at the annual Progressive Music Awards in 2013. And they've just released a new album titled "An Hour Before It's Dark". Marillion is the group we are talking about, and guitarist Steve Rothery spoke with us about the new album and the history of the group.

Q - Steve, I'm listening to your newest music, "An Hour Before It's Dark". You're taking this project on the road, aren't you?

A - Yes. We've been rehearsing the last couple of weeks. We have the first one (show) coming up in a couple of months.

Q - It seems to me the music could also be used on some kind of film project. Would you agree?

A - Yes. The whole scope of the album I suppose is quite cinematic in the way we tend to write. So yeah, I can imaging either a film or a series of short films being made.

Q - I've been told there's more money to be made placing a song in a film than performing live. Is that true?

A - (laughs) Well, we had a two week tour last November in the UK. That's the first live shows in two years, since the pandemic. We're not doing a lot of touring this year (2022) until later in the year, around September, October, November time. We've just been doing three days in one venue in various place around the world. It's a little more civilized than touring as such. But yeah, there's nothing quite like playing to a live audience. It's terrifying, but exhilarating at the same time.

Q - Is it true insurance companies won't back Rock tours these days?

A - Yeah, because of COVID. You just couldn't get insurance and it makes it very difficult for a lot of artists really because it's a gamble. You're just throwing the dice, hoping that no one in the band gets ill. It happens. Elton John had to postpone or cancel some of his shows. Adele. It's such a risk factor these days. Even though the Omicron variant seems to be less severe, I think you would have to cancel performances if one of the main performers was diagnosed. They can't really cover that risk. There was just too much at stake.

Q - Through the years you and the band have used something called online crowd funding or fan funded music. Isn't that something a record company would do? Finance your tours?

A - We saw the viability of the internet way back in 1997 when we had this U.S. tour fund. We said we couldn't tour the States. So, a fan took it upon himself to create a band account. This is the pre world wide web. It was just a mailing list to the members to try and raise the money to bring us to the States. They raised about $60,000 to $70,000 and that enabled us to tour North America. After that, we crafted our first album in '99, an album called "Anoraknophobia". We've done it almost every album since. It just gives you the budget and freedom to take your time and make the best record you can and still own it. All our earlier albums, we were signed to E.M.I. and you basically sign all of the rights away in perpetuity. And that's it. So, it's one of the reasons the band still exists really, the whole crowd funding model.

Q - After you left E.M.I you started to release your own albums?

A - We were with E.M.I. for the first eight albums. We left E.M.I. in '93. Then we had three albums on a small, independent label called Castle Communications. Then we took our own path. We sort of do things through a big, German label called Edel. So, we kind of do everything on our own terms. It just means that the money we can raise is a lot more than any major label would give you. It enables us to take the time 'cause that's what's crucial when you're making a record, to have enough time. You have to have a recording space that you're going to be able to develop the idea and give them your all really. So, having a budget to do that is incredibly important.

Q - When a fan contributes money towards the recording of your album, or towards your touring costs, what do they get?

A - The it works is different editions depending on people's budget, if they want to help the band in one of their pre-order campaigns. So, it might only be a download or it might be the standard edition or special edition or like the ultra edition with kind of vinyl, Blu-Ray, 5.1 mixes, photo book, etc. People are getting more than just the music. It's like a work of art really. It's something tangible in this day and age where so much music is consumed by streaming anyway. The people who do want physical product usually will be older people. If you can give them something that represents more than just the music and at the same time enable them to support the band they love, it's a win-win situation really.

Q - When Marillion was starting out, where did you perform? Were you playing cover songs?

A - No. Marillion has always been original material. In the very early days we would play anywhere and everywhere to small venues around the South of England. Then, as the line-ups changed, we toured more. We started playing the London circuit. We had many, many sold-out shows at The Marquee Club, the famous London venue which is where all the record company people used to drink. So, they'd be in the bar, doing what record companies do best, and we'd be there playing to a sold-out crowd. It made them have to take notice. So, I think it was directly responsible for us being signed, really. Build up the reputation so when you go and play a venue like that people travel in from around the country to see you. It kind of sends out a message to the moguls.

Q - What years were you performing in The Marquee Club?

A - 'Round about '91, '92 mainly. We occasionally played it after that, but we kind of moved on to bigger venues then. Hammersmith Apollo was the venue we played most, like '82, '83, '84, which is like a three and a half, four thousand seat venue. With the current line-up we just played the Hammersmith again actually. Before that we played the Royal Albert Hall, two nights on the previous tour. So yeah, we played to decent sized audiences, especially in Europe really. In the States we still tend to play kind of small theatres or clubs. It's never really broken out of that market for us there, which is kind of a shame. But, we have an amazing fan base there and quite often they'll fly to Europe to see shows anyway.

Q - Why don't you think you've broken through in America? Is it because you haven't gotten enough radio air play?

A - Yeah. You find in the countries where you still get played on the radio, you're a lot more popular. We can play the National Auditorium in Mexico City to 7,500 people, but only play to 1,500 people in most of the States. We play to a few more people normally in Canada, but generally it's between 1,200 to 2,000 people. We're very strong in certain parts of the States. Other places we're kind of dreadfully unknown. College radio, we've gotten a fair amount of radio over the years, but the band has been around for a long time now. We're talking the forty-third year that I've been in this band. (laughs) I wouldn't say we're past it, but we're not young guys. We do what we do and I think we do it well. There's an audience that loves us. But, you're not pretending you're in your early twenties the rest of your life.

Q - Did they have this "pay to play" policy going on at The Marquee Club when you performed there?

A - No, not really. You start out by doing a support slot. In our case I think we did three support slots before we were given the headliner. But you could make some money. Some of the London venues were like that. It was only The Marquee that paid us a decent amount.

Q - What was the attraction to record company people to hang out at The Marquee? Were they hoping to see some group they could sign?

A - It was right in the West End of London on Waldorf Street. The offices of Charisma Records were up literally on the floor above. It used to be a watering hole for all the different label's agents, A&R guys, as well as managers. It was like an unofficial drinking club I suppose. You used to find them propping at the bar.

Q - You have your own recording studio called The Racket Club?

A - Yes. That's the band's studio. I have a studio at home as well, a Pro-Tools set-up that I've used to record various bits, my new album as well as my solo projects in my garage studio.

Q - Do you make the studio available to other bands as well?

A - No. Purely for our projects.

Q - Your former manager, John Arnison was taking 20% of the band's gross earnings?

A - It was after lights and P.A. He earned an awful lot of money from the band by the time we got wise and sacked him. (laughs) When you're a young musician you just want to make music. You don't care about what kind of contract you sign, how much your agent, promoter or manager is getting paid, providing you're getting something. You're just enjoying what you love. It's galling when you look back and you think of the huge amount of money that you were generating that you saw very little of.

Q - After everyone takes their percentages and gets paid, just how much was the band making?

A - Yeah, well, we made a decent living, but we probably make more money now than we did then and we were having Gold and Platinum albums and selling out stadiums across Europe. That's just how it goes. We're a lot wiser these days and we have complete control over our own destiny.

Q - That's the way to be.

A - It's completely the way to be. We kind of set the model really that a lot of bands have followed in terms of trying to be independent and using social media on the internet and trying to have a fan bas that's more like a global community. In other cases, bands don't tend to have that. But we we're very lucky. It doesn't matter where we go in the world, we have an amazing audience, even in countries where English isn't the first language you'll see 'em kind of singing along. It's quite exceptional I think.

Q - You mentioned earlier that you've been a professional musician for forty-three years. Do you think Rock bands are meant to last forty of fifty years?

A - It depends if they've got anything valuable to say really. I think the difference between this band and pretty much any other band I can think of is that we're still making important work. The last two albums are some of the best work we've ever done. In that respect it doesn't matter how many years you've been going. If you're still a viable, creative entity, then you should keep going until one of you is in the ground, really.

Q - The classical musicians from centuries past kept going well into their latter years. What's to stop Rock musicians from doing the same thing?

A - Well, exactly. I mean, we're all in our sixties now. Some of us in our mid-sixties. So, you can't really look much past another ten years. I think once you get into your seventies, kind of all bets are off really in terms of live performance. I can't see why we'd ever stop being creative, providing like I said we're all around and still get on with each other. There's nothing better than creating original music really and the satisfaction that you get doing that. I can't imagine ever stopping.

Official Website: www.marillion.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.





Marillion - "An Hour Before Dark"

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